Sunday, October 31, 2004

Six Muslim leaders from the Washington area yesterday condemned the taking of hostages in Iraq and demanded the release of all prisoners.

"Those who kidnap and murder civilians are violating Islamic norms and deserve to be repudiated by Muslims in America, in Iraq and throughout the Islamic world," the imams said in a statement read at a news conference at the offices of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based Muslim advocacy group.

The statement was read a second time in Arabic by Mohamad al Hanooti, a former imam of Dar Al Hijrah in Falls Church. Council officials said they intend to disseminate it widely in the Arabic press of the Middle East, where they hope it will have an impact despite the region's high level of anti-American sentiment.

"I think our message was very loud and clear to the kidnappers: That they are harming Islam by these actions [which] are counterproductive . . . and inhumane," said Nihad Awad, the council's executive director. The hostage takers, he added, "cannot quote one verse in the Koran" to justify what they are doing.

More than 150 foreigners have been kidnapped this year in Iraq and about one-third of them have been killed, several by beheading.

-- Caryle Murphy"

Northern Virginiastan's take:

It is only through criticism of the Muslim community that these statements are made. It appears that CAIR read Daniel Pipes's denunciation of its phony petition effort in that it was directed to no one in particular, despite its relentless attacks on him: note that they say that "they intend to disseminate it widely in the Arabic press of the Middle East." Wonder if CAIR's database of media contacts in the Middle East is as extensive as its database of media contacts in the U.S.???

Note once again that the stress is on the harm that kidnappings do to the image of Islam, not on the inhumanity of the kidnappings. It's almost as Nihad Awad added "inhumane" as an afterthought ... or that Carlyle Murphy thought that it was significant enough to keep in the article. Awad might be engaging in taqiyya when he states that the kidnappers "cannot quote one verse in the Koran" to justify what they are doing.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Afeefa Syeed is the "multicultural trainer" going around Fairfax County Public Schools teaching elementary school students about Ramadan. She writes, "In fact, proselytizing is not an objective of these presentations, and is not fundamental to our practice of the faith [Islam]."

Ms. Syeed might be ignorant of the fact that proselytizing (called daw'ah) is central to Islam. In fact, daw'ah is so central to Islam that Islamic law states that Muslims must declare jihad against any non-Muslim country or society that restricts daw'ah. On the other hand, Ms. Syeed could be engaging in the time-honored practice of taqiyya, which makes one question the veracity of her other statements.

"A reluctant witness fearing for his life said he didn't see Reynaldo Alexander Cordova at the house where his nephew was shot. As a result, charges of murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony against Cordova, 22, were dropped in General District Court on Monday.

Raul Escobar's testimony was the only evidence prosecutors had against Cordova, of 2216 Pimmit Run Lane, Falls Church, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney William E. Jarvis said after the hearing.

"MS-13 is going to kill him is he testifies," Jarvis said after the hearing Monday. "The question is where." '

MS-13, the criminal gang also known as Mara Salvatrucha, has allegedly met with Al-Qaeda in Central America (refer to the 2004-10-01 posting on this blog).

"During the next few weeks, multicultural trainer Afeefa Syeed will bring third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students from a Muslim academy in Herndon, Va., to nearby public schools to share the practices and beliefs of their holiest month, Ramadan."

It's worse than I was initially led to believe. According to FrontPage magazine, 'there will be explanations of the fasting month and “role-playing” that requires students to recite Muslim sacred words and imitate their prayer practices.'

Here's what Northern Virginiastan sent to the Superintendent of Schools and School Board of Fairfax County Public Schools:

I am a taxpayer who lives in [city in Fairfax County] and works in [city in Fairfax County]. It has come to my attention that elementary school students from a Muslim academy in Herndon, facilitated by “multicultural trainer” Afeefa Syeed, will be visiting their counterparts in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) to share the practices and beliefs of the Islamic “holy” month of Ramadan.

It is my understanding that Ms. Syeed and the students from the Muslim academy will present the call to prayer in Arabic and that there will be “interactive” activities in which FCPS students recite Muslim sacred words and imitate Islamic prayer practices. This presents the opportunity for Ms. Syeed and her students to convert FCPS students to Islam. One becomes a Muslim by uttering the Arabic words transliterated as “Lā ilāha il-Allāh Muhammadur rasūl Allāh,” which means, “There is no god but God [and] Muhammad is the messenger [or prophet] of God,” in the presence of Muslim witnesses (see Shahada, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahada). Thus, young FCPS students might unknowingly convert to Islam by reciting words they and their teacher don’t understand.

It has long been accepted that public schools can teach about religion, but cannot teach religion itself. This effort to educate FCPS about Ramadan crosses the line into promoting and proselytizing a particular religion, namely Islam. I urge you to inform Ms. Syeed that her training is not welcome in public schools.

Saturday, October 16, 2004

"ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A prominent Muslim activist who admitted participating in a Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's crown prince was sentenced Friday to the maximum 23 years in prison for illegal business dealings with Libya.

Abdurahman Alamoudi, 52, pleaded guilty in July to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from high-ranking Libyan officials while serving as a go-between for them and Saudi dissidents."

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- An Egyptian national who ran a now-defunct bank in New Jersey was found guilty Tuesday of lying to federal agents about business dealings with a leader of the militant group Hamas.

A jury convicted Soliman Biheiri, 53, who ran the BMI Inc. bank, of making false statements to federal investigators by denying a business relationship with Mousa Abu Marzook, the political leader of Hamas [and former Fairfax County resident]. ...

The agents testified Biheiri told them he had no business or personal relationship with Marzook. Financial records and court testimony showed Marzook helped bring $1 million in investments to Biheiri's company."

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

The lie that jizya, or the tribute extracted on non-Muslim subjects, was fair, was promoted by Kareem Kysia, a graduate student from the University of Chicago who participated in discussion forums hosted by the Washington Post. He argued that dhimmis were "exempted" from conscription in exchange for paying jizya, or tribute tax, as though this exemption was some kind of privilege. I think it's because their crafty Muslim overlords knew better than to hand non-Muslims the means of their destruction!

Kareem's brother Ramzi, another Muslim apologist,
is published on leftist sites such as Counterpunch, Common Dreams, and indymedia.org.

Monday, October 11, 2004

"During the next few weeks, multicultural trainer Afeefa Syeed will bring third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students from a Muslim academy in Herndon, Va., to nearby public schools to share the practices and beliefs of their holiest month, Ramadan."

Email these people a piece of your mind concerning the legality of their actions. While you're at it, and perhaps more to the point, go to the Web site for the school district where this is happening and email their administrators too:

Friday, October 01, 2004

"Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, a key al Qaeda cell leader for whom the U.S. government has offered a $5 million reward, was spotted in July in Honduras meeting with leaders of El Salvador's notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang, which immigration officials said has smuggled hundreds of Central and South Americans — mostly gang members — into the United States. Although they are actively involved in alien, drug and weapons smuggling, Mara Salvatrucha members in America also have been tied to numerous killings, robberies, burglaries, carjackings, extortions, rapes and aggravated assaults — including at least seven killings in Virginia and a machete attack on a 16-year-old in Alexandria that severely mutilated his hands.

... El Shukrijumah ... was named in a March 2003 material-witness arrest warrant by federal prosecutors in Northern Virginia, where U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty said he is sought in connection with potential terrorist threats against the United States. A former southern Florida resident and pilot thought to have helped plan the September 11 attacks, El Shukrijumah was among seven suspected al Qaeda operatives identified in May by Attorney General John Ashcroft as being involved in plans to strike new targets in the United States."

... More than 3,000 Mara Salvatrucha gang members are thought to be in the Washington area, with a major operation in Northern Virginia. Other gang centers, authorities said, include Montgomery and Prince George's counties and the Hispanic neighborhoods of Washington."